club/concert in low light techniques cnc welcome

[cminus]

this past saturday i went and shot my friends band in a sort of dark (typical stage lighting) bar type place...the pics didnt come out that great unfortunately....

i have a d3000 and started w my kit lense, 18to55 vr and even at iso 800 a 1/30 shutter speec and aperture maxxed open, it was quite dark. i switched to my 35mm 1.8 prime nikkor and that yeilded slightly better results at similar settings, so much i miight have been able to go to iso 400...maybe.

are there any tips or tricks besides getting faster glass and a better camera that shoots higher iso with ,less noise? also, with all the colored lights its a total pain to white balance holy crap...., any tips on pp in lightroom for this is appreciated as well....i know, they are terrrrible ugh.....its utterly depressing how crp they are actually lol

full set is here C Minus Photography: 1st Attempt at low light shooting, meh, I need faster glass and better camera

side note i had and use my neewer tt560 spedlite on some of these, intried it gelled and bouncing straight white also

 

[cminus]

a few more, sorry too hard to edit my post on the tablet gah

 

[cminus]

this one was shot w the slower zoom lense, you can see all the grain, i tried to fix in LR then make it look old school in pp lol...

 

[DiskoJoe]

Better glass helps. You can use flash for some stuff. The best way is to get a motor that can handle higher ISO better. Usually the best pics are of bigger bands that can afford to bring better lighting.

i took this at a Devo show. They had tons of really nice led lighting and additional stage lighting...

DSC02892 purple screen by DiskoJoe, on Flickr

Took this at a club like you described for a friends band with no extra lighting. The black hole behind them really makes a huge difference.....

wmd by DiskoJoe, on Flickr

 

[bhop]

You need to use higher iso in my opinion. Would you rather have a shot you might have to use some noise software on or not get a good shot at all? Some of the best rock photography is from the past when high iso grainy films were the thing of the day. Granted modern digital noise doesn't have the same feel, but I personally think people worry about it too much..

 

[DiskoJoe]

You need to use higher iso in my opinion. Would you rather have a shot you might have to use some noise software on or not get a good shot at all? Some of the best rock photography is from the past when high iso grainy films were the thing of the day. Granted modern digital noise doesn't have the same feel, but I personally think people worry about it too much..

Better to have a bit of noise and a sharp photo then a smooth finish and every things blurring and streaking.

Typically I shoot wide open at ISO 1600.

 

[MLeeK]

You did good here! I am not feeling the love for the conversions. I think you lose too much of the feeling. There is NO detail in the blacks whereas with color there MAY be. I am guessing you did it because of the horrible colors you get from stage lights-but they make much of the image!!!

I am dumfounded that anyone can get a good shot at ISO 1600 in a club. I couldn't get my shutter up fast enough!!
This is at f/4, ISO 12800 shutter 1/320. I probably could have dropped shutter to 1/160 SOMETIMES during this one and my f/ to f/2.8, but I wanted a bit of DOF to get everyone in and there was a lot of movement going on, so 1/320 was a much better bet.
Brantley Gilbert

Kip Moore

The biggest trick is to remember that those colors from the lights? Are right. Drives me insane!!! I happened to get lucky on the Kip Moore one.

 

[gsgary]

I'm the opposite i love the color lights, i usually shoot at iso3200, lenses i use are 50F1.4,70-200F4L,200F2.8L and 300F2.8L always shoot raw and i spot meter the skin, learn to use the lights you can count between lights to get them just right

 

[DiskoJoe]

I am dumfounded that anyone can get a good shot at ISO 1600 in a club.

You have to do it manually. If you try to use a-mode it will want to register it for too long a shutter speed then what you really need.

The devo shot was at iso 800 1/1000. The next shot was at 3200 1/50. I dont like pushing my camera that high but there was no light at all. If you can catch people holding still for a second it helps.

 

[MLeeK]

I am incapable of using aperture and shutter priority well. I have to use manual or I am bound to screw it up!

 

[cminus]

thank you for all the replies, i like noisy pics npbjt would like to have crisp ones also...i think my lowly d3000 doesnt like anything above 800, it does have a 1600 tho.i metered the face and shot some of these w a speedlite, non ttl, just guessing lol. i think next time ill start at 800, move to 1600, and shoot some w and without the flash.

bottom line sounds like nicer slr to tzke good shots lowlight like this at high iso right?

 

[DiskoJoe]

thank you for all the replies, i like noisy pics npbjt would like to have crisp ones also...i think my lowly d3000 doesnt like anything above 800, it does have a 1600 tho.i metered the face and shot some of these w a speedlite, non ttl, just guessing lol. i think next time ill start at 800, move to 1600, and shoot some w and without the flash.

bottom line sounds like nicer slr to tzke good shots lowlight like this at high iso right?

Well a better slr always helps now. I would not push the 3000 past 1600. You could probably get something usable at 1600 and maybe use some noise reduction. A lot of the time you just have to spray and prey to get something decent if you do not have good lighting.

 

[cminus]

thank you for all the replies, i like noisy pics npbjt would like to have crisp ones also...i think my lowly d3000 doesnt like anything above 800, it does have a 1600 tho.i metered the face and shot some of these w a speedlite, non ttl, just guessing lol. i think next time ill start at 800, move to 1600, and shoot some w and without the flash.

bottom line sounds like nicer slr to tzke good shots lowlight like this at high iso right?

Well a better slr always helps now. I would not push the 3000 past 1600. You could probably get something usable at 1600 and maybe use some noise reduction. A lot of the time you just have to spray and prey to get something decent if you do not have good lighting.

thanks man, one day ill get a better body , till then...spray and pray at higher iso and noise reduction it is.

 

[gsgary]

thank you for all the replies, i like noisy pics npbjt would like to have crisp ones also...i think my lowly d3000 doesnt like anything above 800, it does have a 1600 tho.i metered the face and shot some of these w a speedlite, non ttl, just guessing lol. i think next time ill start at 800, move to 1600, and shoot some w and without the flash.

bottom line sounds like nicer slr to tzke good shots lowlight like this at high iso right?

Well a better slr always helps now. I would not push the 3000 past 1600. You could probably get something usable at 1600 and maybe use some noise reduction. A lot of the time you just have to spray and prey to get something decent if you do not have good lighting.

thanks man, one day ill get a better body , till then...spray and pray at higher iso and noise reduction it is.

Spray and pray does not work, time your photos and use the light you have, there are not many cameras worse than the 1Dmk1 for noise
this is at ISO1600, so crank it up and use what you have got

 

[cminus]

i want another crack at this soon, i will be reposting hopefully better pics sometime in the next month , thanks for all the help